Latest news with #CNET
CNET
3 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
Early Prime Day Tablet Deals: Up to $400 in Savings on Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and More
Prime Day is just over a week away, with the event kickoff coming on July 8th. But you don't have to wait until then to find a great buy. Early deals are already rolling in on plenty of items, including electronics. From deals for under $100 to must-have devices like Fire TVs or top-notch tablets, Prime Day is an excellent time to shop. And it's not just Amazon with markdowns -- Best Buy and Walmart are also having competing sales worth shopping right now. We've found price cuts on everything from Apple to Samsung and beyond, but there's no telling how long these deals will last. Keep checking back, because we'll continue updating this page as new offers drop and other deals expire. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. Early Prime Day tablet deals Apple iPad 10th gen: $299 A nice $50 savings brings the previous-gen iPad just under $300. The 10th generation is no longer the latest in Apple's standard iPad lineup, thanks to the fairly recent addition of the iPad 11th gen, but it's still an all-around solid tablet. With a 10.9-inch screen, 64GB of storage and a 10-hour battery life, this iPad is a great pick for folks looking for an Apple tablet for everyday browsing, streaming and reading. Details Save $50 $299 at Walmart Close OnePlus Pad: $395 This Android tablet is under $400 and is a great alternative to some of the major brands out there. The OnePlus Pad is not the latest on offer by OnePlus, but it does have a nice 11.6-inch display, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It also boasts a sleek and lightweight design at just 552g and 6.54mm thick. Details Save $85 $395 at Amazon Close Apple M4 iPad Pro (13-inch): $1,369 The powerful M4 iPad Pro is a great investment for creatives, and this modest $130 discount helps make it a little more affordable if you've been wanting to splurge on this model with a 13-inch Ultra Retina XDR display and 512GB of storage. Details Save $130 $1,369 at Amazon Close Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: $800 A $400 discount on the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is a massive win for Android fans who love the Galaxy line. This is one of the best deals we've seen on a high-end Android tablet. This model also comes with the S-Pen so you can write and take notes easily. Plus, this tablet is also water- and dust-resistant, so you can take it with you on the go. And it comes with Galaxy AI. Details Save $400 $800 at Best Buy Close Microsoft Surface Pro, 13-inch (512GB): $1,200 This high-end Surface Pro tablet has a 13-inch OLED screen and a Snapdragon X Elite processor, making it an incredible option for productivity. Details Save $300 $1,200 at Best Buy Close Refurbished Fire Max 11 tablet: $130 The Fire Max 11 is a great budget tablet with a beautiful 11-inch screen, perfect for streaming, reading and chilling out. This model has been refurbished up to Amazon Certified levels, so it's trustworthy but might not be for everyone. Details Save $70 $130 at Amazon Close More early Prime Day tablet offers available now Is Amazon Prime Day a good time to buy a tablet? It depends. Your needs and preferences will affect which tablet you should buy, and some tablet options won't be as competitively priced as others during Prime Day. Amazon's deals on its own Fire tablets are a great place to start if you're looking for major discounts, but you can also score some serious savings on iPads and models from other brands. If you have an older tablet you can trade in, you can potentially save even more through trade-in programs at retailers like Best Buy and Amazon on eligible models. Do you need a membership for Prime Day tablet deals? To access the vast majority of Prime Day deals, you'll need to be a Prime member. If you've always yearned for the benefits of Prime but haven't made the jump, now's a great time to subscribe. Subscribing now could lead to significant savings, as tariffs are expected to raise prices on a lot of goods. In fact, 16% of shoppers say they're using Prime Day to start their holiday shopping well ahead of the holiday season, according to a new RetailMeNot survey. (Disclosure: RetailMeNot is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) Read more: How to Sign Up for a Prime Membership Are other retailers offering high-quality tablet deals? Yes. In response to Prime Day, many of Amazon's competitors also lowered prices across the board, including on tablets. Both Best Buy and Walmart have Fourth of July deals that are offering plenty of savings already. In addition, you may also spot deals directly at HP, Samsung and Dell. Will tariffs impact this year's Prime Day deals? Tariffs are top of mind for most Americans, and they could impact this year's Prime Day event. Prices on items like electronics could very well increase, with companies like Apple trying to avoid this by moving manufacturing operations elsewhere. The tariffs are currently paused, but only until July, right when Prime Day begins. Watch this: How to Hack Amazon Prime Day: Shopping and Deals Advice 04:03 How does CNET select the best Prime Day offers? Our team of expert shoppers and deal hunters has spent years helping buyers understand which major sales and deals are legitimately good and which are more routine. That includes Black Friday, Prime Day, Memorial Day and countless other shopping events. We've become very good at weeding out scams and superficial deals on all sorts of tech, so you see only the best offers on items, like tablets. At CNET we look for real discounts, quality reviews and remaining sale time when choosing a deal to show you.
CNET
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answer and Help for June 28 #482- CNET
Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles. Today's NYT Strands puzzle is a tough one. It took me a few minutes to figure out the theme, and then, the words were all over the map. Plus, the spangram is enormous -- filling up two rows and more! If you need hints and answers, read on. I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET's NYT puzzle hints page. Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far Hint for today's Strands puzzle Today's Strands theme is: ...not included. If that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Energizer bunny. Clue words to unlock in-game hints Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle's theme. If you're stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work: DICE, RICE, RICED, HIGH, RACE, MOTEL, MOTELS, LOCK, TOME, MACE, CARE, MOTE, COIL, COILS, FLAT, FLATS. Answers for today's Strands puzzle These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: TOYS, CLOCK, CAMERA, REMOTE, FLASHLIGHT Today's Strands spangram The completed NYT Strands puzzle for June 28, 2025, #482. NYT/Screenshot by CNET Today's Strands spangram is BATTERIESREQUIRED. To find it, start with the B that's the last letter at the very bottom of the first row on the left.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Your Passwords Are Lazy and Hackers Love It. CNET Survey Finds 49% of US Adults Have Risky Password Habits
It feels like I have a password for everything: my bank account, my Amazon Echo Show and even my Netflix app. With so many different devices and accounts, coming up with unique, strong passwords -- and remembering them -- can be overwhelming. It's tempting to get lazy and use the same password for multiple accounts. It's a relatable move, and it's one scammers are counting on. The risks of using old passwords or including personal information in a new one is a big risk to your data and identity. Repeating passwords could open the floodgates to hackers getting access to more than just your Netflix account. Yet CNET's latest survey shows that almost half of US adults (49%) have risky password habits and 24% admitted to using a password that's shared with another account. That's troubling to Attila Tomaschek, CNET software senior writer and digital security expert. "Reusing the same password across multiple accounts puts users at risk of getting their online accounts compromised through a credential stuffing attack," said Tomaschek. There's not one particular password formula that will guarantee your information is safeguarded. However, there are steps you can take to protect your password and data as best as possible. Here are CNET's survey findings and what our experts recommend when creating or upgrading your password. 49% of Americans have risky password habits 24% of US adults use the same password for more than one account 25% of US adults use a random password generator, a practice CNET experts recommend CNET's survey found the risky password habits US adults most commonly turn to include reusing a password across different accounts or using personal data as part of a password. While 24% said they use the same password for different accounts, 8% admitted to using a password that they know was compromised in a data breach. "If a malicious actor gains access to a user's login credentials on one account, they could use those same credentials to gain access to other online accounts that share the same credentials," said Tomaschek. Read more: 184 Million Passwords Leaked for Google, Facebook, Instagram and More. How to Protect Your Accounts US adults are also using personal information as a part of their passwords including birthdays or anniversaries (15%), a pet's name (14%), part of the user's name (11%) or a family member's name (11%). Less common password practices include using a password that contains a previous or current street address (6%), a child's name (6%), a common sequence such as "1234" (5%), the word "password" (3%) or the name of a college or professional sports team (3%). Using personal data in your password may help you remember your login but it also makes it easier for hackers to access your account. "This is especially risky considering the wealth of information that many people share online through social media and other outlets," said Tomaschek. Creating a unique password for each account can minimize that risk. Not all US adults have lazy password habits. CNET found that one-quarter (25%) of US adults go with randomly generated passwords when creating one, for example, from an online service or Internet browser. That's welcoming news to Tomascheck, who said this is one of the safest options. Randomly generated passwords are substantially more difficult to guess than a user-created password, Tomaschek said. "A good password generator will offer options for the user to customize the length of the password and whether numbers and symbols are incorporated," he said. "The longer and more complicated the generated password, the better." However, a randomly generated password can be impossible to remember, so Tomaschek recommends using a password manager to store each of your unique passwords. CNET recommends Bitwarden as its top recommendation. Read more: No Password Manager? Learn How to Protect Your Online Accounts and Make Logging In Simple The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recommends making each password 16 characters or longer. Also, use a random mix of numbers, letters, special characters or words. If your password has been compromised, change it right away and keep an eye on any other accounts to make sure they're not impacted.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Microsoft Is Getting Rid of Passwords in One Month. Here's What You Need to Do ASAP
If you rely on Microsoft Authenticator to store your passwords, time is winding down. Starting in August, Microsoft will require you to use passkeys instead of keeping all of your Microsoft passwords on its mobile app and your old passwords will vanish. But that's not bad news. Passkeys can cut out risky password habits that 49% of US adults have, according to a recent CNET survey. Making it a practice to use the same password for multiple accounts or include personal hints, like your birthday, can be risky. It could be an easy giveaway for hackers to guess, which can lead to identity theft and fraud. Here's what you need to know about Microsoft's timeline for the switch and how to set up passkeys for your Microsoft accounts before it's too late. Microsoft Authenticator houses your passwords and lets you sign into all of your Microsoft accounts using a PIN, facial recognition such as Windows Hello, or other biometric data, like a fingerprint. Authenticator can be used in other ways, such as verifying you're logging in if you forgot your password, or using two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security for your Microsoft June, Microsoft stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator, but here's a timeline of other changes you can expect, according to Microsoft. July 2025: You won't be able to use the autofill password function. August 2025: You'll no longer be able to use saved passwords. If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can store them in Microsoft Edge. However, CNET experts recommend adopting passkeys during this transition. "Passkeys use public key cryptography to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves creating their own (often weak or reused) passwords to access their online accounts," said Attila Tomaschek, CNET software senior writer and digital security expert. So what exactly is a passkey? It's a credential created by the Fast Identity Online Alliance that uses biometric data or a PIN to verify your identity and access your account. Think about using your fingerprint or Face ID to log into your account. That's generally safer than using a password that is easy to guess or susceptible to a phishing attack. "Passwords can be cracked, whereas passkeys need both the public and the locally stored private key to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks like falling victim to phishing and brute-force or credential-stuffing attacks," Tomaschek added. Passkeys aren't stored on servers like passwords. Instead, they're stored only on your personal device. More conveniently, this takes the guesswork out of remembering your passwords and the need for a password manager. Microsoft said in a May 1 blog post that it will automatically detect the best passkey to set up and make that your default sign-in option. "If you have a password and 'one-time code' set up on your account, we'll prompt you to sign in with your one-time code instead of your password. After you're signed in, you'll be prompted to enroll a passkey. Then the next time you sign in, you'll be prompted to sign in with your passkey," according to the blog post. To set up a new passkey, open your Authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select "Set up a passkey." You'll be prompted to log in with your existing credentials. After you're logged in, you can set up the passkey.
CNET
4 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
Chase Sapphire Reserve Launches New $250 Apple Perk. I'm Not Falling for It
Chase/CNET The Chase Sapphire Reserve®* was updated earlier this week and now includes a number of new annual credits and other features, including an Apple Plus and Apple Music membership, valued at $250 annually (ends June 22, 2027). Chase also upped the card's annual fee. It now costs $795 annually, so you'll have to do more legwork to get enough value from the card to cover the cost. That likely means the average credit card user won't even want to consider this as an option. Which is fair. In my opinion, you shouldn't need to redeem dozens of credits, sign up for several complimentary subscriptions, only book flights and hotels when your points are boosted, or feel like you have to buy a Peloton to make sure you're getting enough value to justify a card's annual fee. The new credits and features sound great on paper, but to me, they just mean more work. There are some important changes to the card's rewards, too. It has a larger welcome offer and new rewards rates, and, less excitingly, Chase is changing how it values the card's points. But we'll get to that. I'm sure some travel experts and credit card aficionados will disagree and could easily get plenty of value from this card, but for credit cardholders like myself who would rather have a more automated, streamlined experience, it just doesn't seem worth the extra effort. Here's everything new with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. What does the new Chase Sapphire Reserve look like? Chase has changed the card's rewards and how much they're worth when it's time to redeem. New and old rewards compared New rewards Old rewards 8x points for all travel booked through Chase Travel 10x points for booking hotels and rental cars through Chase Travel 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly 5x points on flights booked through Chase 3x points on dining 3x points for all other travel 1x point for everything else 1x point for everything else These changes are good. Dining rewards seem like a no-brainer on a travel card, and it's something I was surprised to not see on the card originally. Also, not needing to always book through Chase Travel opens more travel and earning opportunities. The card also includes a higher welcome offer: 100,000 bonus points and a $500 Chase Travel℠ credit for spending $5,000 in the first three months from account opening. However, Chase is also changing the value of the rewards you earn with its new Points Boost program. You used to be able to redeem your points for travel through Chase at a bonus value of 1.5 cents per point. Now, you'll earn 2 cents per point, but only with rotating boosted redemption flights and hotels. And if you redeem your points for any nonboosted flight or hotel, they'll only be worth 1 cent each. You can still transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to Chase's travel partners. This is clearly less flexible than the card's previous reward program, and will likely cause cardholders to miss out on value they would've otherwise secured. What if there are no boosted flights or hotels for when and where you're looking to travel? You'll either need to wait or have less of your trip covered. Or, you could transfer your points where they could be worth more -- but again, that takes more work than simply redeeming through your card issuer's portal for a small bonus, as it was before. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card* now uses the Points Boost program as well. New annual credits The card is also gaining a handful of new annual credits: $500 The Edit℠ credit. The Edit is Chase's new collection of over 1,100 hotels. You get $250 from January to June, and the other $250 from July to December. The Edit is Chase's new collection of over 1,100 hotels. You get $250 from January to June, and the other $250 from July to December. $300 dining credit. Again, split in half -- $150 for January through June, and the other $150 for July to December. Again, split in half -- $150 for January through June, and the other $150 for July to December. $300 StubHub credit. $150 for January through June, $150 for July to December. Ends Dec. 31, 2027. $150 for January through June, $150 for July to December. Ends Dec. 31, 2027. Apple Plus and Apple Music membership , worth $250 annually. Ends June 22, 2027. , worth $250 annually. Ends June 22, 2027. $120 Peloton credit. You get $10 monthly statement credits for a Peloton membership through Dec. 31, 2027, for a maximum of $120 annually. Plus, you'll earn 10x rewards on Peloton equipment purchases. Those are the new credits; there are a number of others, too. You can see them all on Chase's page. The issuer says the card offers more than $2,700 in value, but you'll really need to work to achieve that. For those who spend $75,000 in travel on the card in a calendar year, you'll unlock a $500 Southwest travel credit plus A-list status, IHG Diamond Elite Status and $250 in statement credits for The Shop at Chase. That's a high spending threshold that only the most well-off traveller will likely be able to reach, and it doesn't seem like a great return on investment. And a higher fee Lastly, the card now costs $245 more than it did a month ago. The annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Reserve now sits at $795, one of the highest on the market. While the credits offered can surpass the price of the card, you'll need to do the work to use everything it has to offer. That means buying and using a Peloton, checking the Points Boost program, ordering DoorDash, using Lyft and taking advantage of the new dining credit and two travel credits, and on and on. It's a lot of homework. If you don't use enough of the extra perks, you'll likely be on the hook for at least part of its annual fee. Should you get this card? In short, I think there are people who will find this card worth it, particularly those with higher-than-average travel budgets (and perhaps some sort of assistant to help them keep track of everything), but for the average traveler or credit cardholder, they are more likely to leave value on the table and be stuck with a high annual fee. There's just so much offered here, which is great, but the change in how points are valued, how much additional work you, as the cardholder, have to do annually to make the card's $795 fee actually worth the cost, doesn't add up to me. But again, I probably view credit cards a bit differently than most card experts. I like the easy route, the one that guarantees value without any financial corrosion or work beyond my usual routine. So I'll happily stick with my Sapphire Preferred, which offers way less, but only costs $95 each year. I use it for my dining and travel expenses, redeem my points for trips home through Chase Travel and take advantage of its annual $50 hotel statement credit. There may not be countless annual credits, memberships and subscriptions, but I barely need to do any additional work -- and definitely don't need to overspend -- to realize its value versus how much it costs me annually. *All information about the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
